Mario Tennis (Nintendo 64)
Mario Tennis is a game for the Nintendo 64 that is developed by Camelot Software and is published by Nintendo, and is the second installment in the ''Mario Tennis'' series (although the first in the modern incarnation of the series) and the follow-up to the 1995 game Mario's Tennis for the Virtual Boy. It is a tennis game that features Mario characters, stages, items, and more. It also spawned off many sequels, and became a huge hit. It should also be noted that this is the first game to feature Waluigi. It is also first game since NES Open Tournament Golf to feature Princess Daisy and the first game since Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars to feature Birdo. Introduction The game begins with the launch of the Mario Star Tournament. Mario and a prominent cast of characters (including some newcomers like Princess Daisy and Birdo) walk out onto the field, where it switches to a walk-through of more playable characters, and a quick zoom in on two shadowed figures. Eventually, the tournament is started and characters are matched up. Mario defeats DK, Yoshi defeats Daisy, Princess Peach defeats Birdo, and Luigi defeats Paratroopa. In the semi-finals, Mario defeats Yoshi and Luigi defeats Peach. The finals starts with Mario and Luigi beginning their match by looking for the tennis ball, when suddenly Wario and his new side-kick Waluigi bust in to challenge them. As Waluigi enjoys his new introduction, Luigi exclaims he's not afraid of this new character. Waluigi, now angered, challenges Luigi. Mario tries to calm the two down when Wario confronts him. The four are about to have-it-out, when a gloaming spot-light shines down upon them. As Toad (who is the announcer) points and shouts, "What's-that!?", Bowser and the hovering Boo fall onto the court below, knocking Wario and Waluigi backwards. Everyone appears disgusted that Bowser would try to ruin a tennis match. To everyone's surprise, the pair announce they have come to play a friendly game of tennis. As everyone is baffled, Mario breaks the silence by exclaiming, "Let's all play!". As Peach and Daisy look to each other and agree, everyone, including Wario and Waluigi, follow suit. Out of nowhere, a Bob-omb makes its way onto the field. Without time to act, everyone is caught in the blast, and the game begins. Courses *Hard Court - This court is available from the start. *Clay Court - This court is available from the start. *Grass Court - This court is available from the start. *Composite Court - This court is available from the start. *Yoshi and Baby Mario Court - To get this court, you must win the Mushroom Cup with Yoshi. *Donkey Kong Court - To get this court, you must win the Mushroom Cup with Donkey Kong. *Mario Brothers Court - To get this court, you must win the Mushroom Cup with Mario. *Bowser Stage - This court is available from the start. Characters Including all the characters that can be transferred from the Game Boy Color version of Mario Tennis, the Nintendo 64 version of Mario Tennis features a total of 20 playable characters. Of these characters, 14 characters are default, 2 characters (marked with a double asterisk) are unlockable through playing the Nintendo 64 game, and 4 characters (marked with a triple asterisk) can be transferred from the Game Boy Color game. Aside from the transferable characters, characters are divided into 5 different play styles, listed below. Waluigi (marked with an asterisk) makes his first appearance in the Mario Tennis series and the overall ''Mario'' franchise. Short Game and Tiebreaker are the only modes that can be played with the same characters. When two of the same character is selected, the second player to select said character will have an alternate palette swap of the character. All of the returning cast from Mario Golf retains a returning palette from that game. Pre-release and unused content Goomba, Bullet Bill, and Whomp were suggested to be made playable, along with a "Warupichi" as a potential evil counterpart to Peach, but these were all dismissed for varying reasons, such as Goomba and the Super Mario 64 Bullet Bill's lack of hands, and Whomp's rigid posture. The idea for a rival for the Princess was dismissed by Shigeru Miyamoto.http://www.camelot.co.jp/gimon/gimon13.html Japanese Camelot Q & A Trivia *This marks the only time where the late Jessica Chisum voices Princess Daisy. *This is the final Mario game to feature Donkey Kong Jr. as a playable character. *This is also the first Mario game to feature Shy Guy as a playable character. *Before the name "Waluigi" was ultimately decided, several names to the character were brainstormed such as "Jeroji", "Jinani" and "Wa-igi". *During the development of Mario Tennis, there were talks of adding an evil counterpart for Princess Peach to expand the roster, but the idea was scrapped by Shigeru Miyamoto. *Donkey Kong and Bowser's sound effects were recycled from Mario Kart 64 and Mario Golf. *Yoshi's voice clips were recycled from Yoshi's Story and Super Smash Bros.. *Boo's sound effects were recycled from Super Mario 64. *Alex, Nina, Harry, and Kate are no longer playable in the Virtual Console versions of the game, nor can the transfer-related personal courts be unlocked in that version as well, due to the Wii and the Wii U lacking an equivalent to the Nintendo 64/Game Boy Color Transfer Pak. Despite this, the data for all the characters are still in the game. *This is the only game where the current Donkey Kong and Donkey Kong Jr. are seen together, not counting Donkey Kong Jr.'s background cameo in Waluigi Stadium in Mario Kart: Double Dash!!. This also marks Donkey Kong Jr.'s final playable appearance to date, not counting later ports of his game of the same name. *This is the only game in the Mario Tennis series where the announcer is Mario himself. He is the referee unless he's playing, in which case, a clone of him becomes the referee and wears different clothes depending on the tournament, plus a blue version of Mario's cap. **On a side note, on the title screen and group artwork used for that screen, Peach can be seen sitting on the referee's seat despite that only Mario (and his clones if Mario is playing the matches) is the referee. *In tiebreakers, "0" is read as "oh". Later Mario Tennis titles have that number read as "zero". References External links *[http://www.nintendo.co.jp/n01/n64/software/nus_p_nm8j/index.html Official Mario Tennis Japanese website] es:Mario Tennis Category:Nintendo 64 games Category:Virtual Console games (Wii, Nintendo 64) Category:Virtual Console games (Wii U, Nintendo 64) Category:2000 video games Category:2010 video games Category:Tennis games Category:Mario games Category:Mario sports games Category:Camelot games Category:Nintendo games Category:Sports games Category:Games published by Nintendo Category:Mario Tennis